Proper padding is essential for all hockey goalies. Unfortunately, the process of putting on hockey pads is a long and tedious process.
One particular hockey pad of great importance is the leg pad. Leg pads come in many different sizes and styles, but are all designed to protect the front and back of the leg of a goalie. One style of leg pad has two holes located on a bottom portion allowing laces to fit therethrough. During dressing, a leg pad is placed in front and central to a skate. The laces of the leg pad are then run through holes located on a bottom portion of the skate, which is located above a blade of the skate, so as to secure the leg pad to the skate. As an example, the laces may be run in a crisscross pattern through the bottom of the skate. The laces are then brought to a top portion of the skate and tied. Straps are also typically used for connecting a higher portion of the hockey pad to a back portion of the skate, such as by threading the straps through holes located on the back portion of the skate.
Unfortunately, the lacing process takes more time than is desired. In addition, during play, the resulting laces located on the bottom of the skate may become exposed to a hockey puck, hockey stick, or a blade of a skate. This exposure may result in the laces being cut, which results in the goalie having to replace the laces.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.